Saturday, 2 May 2015
Marie-Christine Barrault vous parle de l'encyclopédie Harmonie du Couple
J'ai toujours su que la France, loin d'être la patrie des grands
baiseurs gaulois, est au contraire majoritairement habitée par des
beaufs impuissants et des pimbêches frigides. Et malheureusement, bien
des années après sa parution, la pourtant fabuleuse et indispensable
encyclopédie Harmonie du Couple dont nous parle Marie-Christine Barrault n'y a rien changé.
Friday, 17 April 2015
Reggie Yates' Extreme Russia (BBC)
I was wondering if anybody else had seen the Reggie Yates'documentary about Russian ultra-nationalists. While I don't condone that form of journalism as I find it unbalanced, sensationalist and simplistic (as if *everybody* in Russia is a racist and worships Putin), I would like to see it as a warning to other countries, when nationalism is allowed to get out of control as a mean for the government to subjugate the populace. Even though such warnings shouldn't be needed anymore since there already are horrifying examples of where nationalism can lead in history.
The documentary is visible here for UK-residents: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05r844j
The West shouldn't think itself as superior or more civilized than Russians though: people in Europe and America still hold racist and prejudiced views but don't dare express them as freely as their comrades in Russia because, deep in their hearts, they are ashamed of holding such backward views and fearful of the consequences, legal and otherwise, if they let them known in public. They feel repressed by the politically correct and resent all the more having to tolerate people who are different from them or whom they perceive as 'stealing' their jobs.
Even the Russian Neonazis are starting to understand they can't keep on behaving like a bunch of degenerates for the whole world to see but they have to put a pretense, a flimsy facade of tolerance and allow the black reporter to interview them when in fact they're itching to beat him into a pulp.
You will always have racists, of any creed, of any race, in every country in the world: white racists, black racists, Asian racists and so on. We should be concerned when such ideas are allowed to be expressed and acted upon without being punished and to prosper for the benefit of the power in place or simply to be exploited by unsavoury people eyeing such power. As such, is it that surprising that Nigel Farage and other members of the Ukip party in the UK, are admirers of Vladimir Putin?
Reggie Yates' investigation of extreme movements in Russia is in three parts: the next one is looking at the repression of gay people. I will watch it and may (or may not) write my thoughts about it in this very blog.
Don't think you're immune to what plagues Russian society at the moment just because you live in the West. Don't think you are 'superior', more 'enlightened' and more 'civilized' than the rest of the world because you live in the West. Racism and the like haven't been eradicated and probably never will, even in the West and it doesn't take much for a so-called civilized society to sink into barbarism and cruelty when prejudices are just kept below the surface.
The documentary is visible here for UK-residents: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05r844j
The West shouldn't think itself as superior or more civilized than Russians though: people in Europe and America still hold racist and prejudiced views but don't dare express them as freely as their comrades in Russia because, deep in their hearts, they are ashamed of holding such backward views and fearful of the consequences, legal and otherwise, if they let them known in public. They feel repressed by the politically correct and resent all the more having to tolerate people who are different from them or whom they perceive as 'stealing' their jobs.
Even the Russian Neonazis are starting to understand they can't keep on behaving like a bunch of degenerates for the whole world to see but they have to put a pretense, a flimsy facade of tolerance and allow the black reporter to interview them when in fact they're itching to beat him into a pulp.
You will always have racists, of any creed, of any race, in every country in the world: white racists, black racists, Asian racists and so on. We should be concerned when such ideas are allowed to be expressed and acted upon without being punished and to prosper for the benefit of the power in place or simply to be exploited by unsavoury people eyeing such power. As such, is it that surprising that Nigel Farage and other members of the Ukip party in the UK, are admirers of Vladimir Putin?
Reggie Yates' investigation of extreme movements in Russia is in three parts: the next one is looking at the repression of gay people. I will watch it and may (or may not) write my thoughts about it in this very blog.
Don't think you're immune to what plagues Russian society at the moment just because you live in the West. Don't think you are 'superior', more 'enlightened' and more 'civilized' than the rest of the world because you live in the West. Racism and the like haven't been eradicated and probably never will, even in the West and it doesn't take much for a so-called civilized society to sink into barbarism and cruelty when prejudices are just kept below the surface.
Monday, 9 March 2015
Please, keep it to yourself.
I am not a Facebook enthusiast as such as I don't really post status updates on my personal profile there and don't comment on friends' walls either. I mean there is only so much you can say about the scones Auntie Muriel baked or the Joneses' holidays pictures in Southend. Topics like that are only of interest to their originators, no offence meant to Auntie Muriel or the Joneses.
But I like browsing groups after my own interests: the posts are often inspiring and informative in FB groups and this must be one of the features of the site that I like the most.
However, I have noticed a trend recently that I find annoying: members of those group posting about the death or hospitalisation of their relatives. I don't know them and don't know their family members and while I can sympathise to some degree with their predicaments and bereavements, I feel that I am being exposed to information that I simply don't want to see and don't want to have shared with me. It feels a bit like this: 'Hi, I don't know you and you don't know me but I thought you may want to know my brother-in-law died this morning. So you could share the burden of mourning him with me even though you've never even met in and didn't know him.'
Before these social networks existed, people would notify their immediate circle of friends and family about the death of a family member and possibly their professional circle since it is quite normal to notify your boss, colleagues, associates, employees, etc. They didn't go and tell strangers on the street for example. We are mutual strangers online: I wouldn't go and make announcements of deaths in my own circle of friends and relatives to people I don't know and who don't know me.
Online social networks are completely changing the dynamics of interaction among people and doing so in deplorable ways. And it doesn't matter how old or young users are: they adopt behaviours that would be awkward and bordering on unacceptable in real life. So why do it online?
Again, I understand losing a loved one is painful, traumatic, etc but please: if we don't know each other and will never ever meet in real life, keep it to yourself.
But I like browsing groups after my own interests: the posts are often inspiring and informative in FB groups and this must be one of the features of the site that I like the most.
However, I have noticed a trend recently that I find annoying: members of those group posting about the death or hospitalisation of their relatives. I don't know them and don't know their family members and while I can sympathise to some degree with their predicaments and bereavements, I feel that I am being exposed to information that I simply don't want to see and don't want to have shared with me. It feels a bit like this: 'Hi, I don't know you and you don't know me but I thought you may want to know my brother-in-law died this morning. So you could share the burden of mourning him with me even though you've never even met in and didn't know him.'
Before these social networks existed, people would notify their immediate circle of friends and family about the death of a family member and possibly their professional circle since it is quite normal to notify your boss, colleagues, associates, employees, etc. They didn't go and tell strangers on the street for example. We are mutual strangers online: I wouldn't go and make announcements of deaths in my own circle of friends and relatives to people I don't know and who don't know me.
Online social networks are completely changing the dynamics of interaction among people and doing so in deplorable ways. And it doesn't matter how old or young users are: they adopt behaviours that would be awkward and bordering on unacceptable in real life. So why do it online?
Again, I understand losing a loved one is painful, traumatic, etc but please: if we don't know each other and will never ever meet in real life, keep it to yourself.
Thursday, 5 March 2015
Older trainee chicken sexer available (UK)
Damn, I only ever hear of good opportunities when it's too late.
Apparently, there is such a thing as a chicken sexer even though most people, myself included, have never heard of it and people applying that trade are in high demand in farms in the UK: they earn up to £40,000 a year just staring at the backside of chicks. 'I already do that on the beach' you will tell me and while it sounds easy enough, it's not: apparently you have to train for three years to be able work out a chick's gender by looking at its rectal area for a few seconds. The process of sorting out the baby birds by gender is necessary in the industry, since roosters unlike hens don't lay eggs and thus have to be culled almost immediately or go to be raised for meat.
The job requires manual dexterity, acute eyesight and is labour-intensive: you have to sort out thousands of chicks a day which may partly explain why there are less and less people willing to do it. The time devoted for training (three years) is another downer.
For one, for that type of money, I want farmers not to despair and to know that there is at least one person up for the job in the UK: myself. They would have to make allowance for my eyesight that isn't what it used to be: I have finally resorted to wearing glasses since I can't elongate my arms far enough to be able to read for example. Being a musician, they will be pleased to know that intense practise on various instruments throughout my life has given me an insane level of dexterity and precision: in other word I won't squash, crush or otherwise hurt chicks in the process of handling them.
If you are a UK-based chicken farmer and are interested, feel free to get in touch by commenting below. Speak to you soon and, thanking you in advance for your interest, I will look forward to hearing from you.
Apparently, there is such a thing as a chicken sexer even though most people, myself included, have never heard of it and people applying that trade are in high demand in farms in the UK: they earn up to £40,000 a year just staring at the backside of chicks. 'I already do that on the beach' you will tell me and while it sounds easy enough, it's not: apparently you have to train for three years to be able work out a chick's gender by looking at its rectal area for a few seconds. The process of sorting out the baby birds by gender is necessary in the industry, since roosters unlike hens don't lay eggs and thus have to be culled almost immediately or go to be raised for meat.
The job requires manual dexterity, acute eyesight and is labour-intensive: you have to sort out thousands of chicks a day which may partly explain why there are less and less people willing to do it. The time devoted for training (three years) is another downer.
For one, for that type of money, I want farmers not to despair and to know that there is at least one person up for the job in the UK: myself. They would have to make allowance for my eyesight that isn't what it used to be: I have finally resorted to wearing glasses since I can't elongate my arms far enough to be able to read for example. Being a musician, they will be pleased to know that intense practise on various instruments throughout my life has given me an insane level of dexterity and precision: in other word I won't squash, crush or otherwise hurt chicks in the process of handling them.
If you are a UK-based chicken farmer and are interested, feel free to get in touch by commenting below. Speak to you soon and, thanking you in advance for your interest, I will look forward to hearing from you.
Saturday, 3 January 2015
Happy New Year 2015
It feels like the New Year will be really starting on Monday.
It was nice to have a rest for two weeks, as I normally just take it easy over the festive period instead of partying, indulging in excesses with food and alcohol or staying up late. I may be a sad bastard from many people's point of view :) but I won't have to worry about losing the weight gained over Christmas and will start the New Year as fresh as a rose. Happy New Year 2015.
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Flower Wheel by Cheerful Madness!! T-Shirts
It was nice to have a rest for two weeks, as I normally just take it easy over the festive period instead of partying, indulging in excesses with food and alcohol or staying up late. I may be a sad bastard from many people's point of view :) but I won't have to worry about losing the weight gained over Christmas and will start the New Year as fresh as a rose. Happy New Year 2015.
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Flower Wheel by Cheerful Madness!! T-Shirts
Friday, 2 January 2015
80s handheld electronic games.
I had a few of these when I was a kid and was pleasantly surprised when I found this page on Storify, gathering links to sites about handheld electronic games. There is even a site emulating some of these games and where you can actually play them.
Fred West for Christmas
More reasons for me at least not to watch Sky News; apparently they broadcast a documentary about Fred and Rosemary West on Christmas Eve. As if brutal serial killers and rapists were festive stuff.
And how many TV documentaries have been made about the Wests? Are they finding new facts about them, even though Fred has been dead for twenty years and Rose is still alive and apparently enjoying herself in prison?
I don't understand the fascination with them. Besides, nobody seems to think about their victims and survivors.
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